I remade a classic Oatmeal Cookie recipe into a protein breakfast bar that is full of fiber and other tasty things, just right to keep you going til lunch. Yes, it’s high in carbs, but they are the stick-to-your-ribs type and should give you a slow burn to keep you from crashing mid-morning. Kids will love these, too. They freeze great – wrap individually – throw one at them as they rush out the door. These are not low calorie, but definitely better than a Pop-Tart or Toaster Strudel…and your house will smell like Heaven for a few hours. Never a bad thing.

The add-ins are endless, too. Any and all chopped nuts, no sugar added dried fruit, coconut, or if you’re feeling extra sweet go with some mini chocolate chips or toffee bits. Yes, I went there…maybe. Yes, yes I did.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 11 x 15 baking pan with vegetable cooking spray and, if you have it, line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl (or mixer bowl) cream together the butter, peanut butter, Gold, and Granular until well mixed. Whip in the eggs, water, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until fluffy. Stir in the flour and protein powder JUST until moistened. Stir in the oatmeal and nuts until mixed through.

Spread (wet fingers worked best for me) evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. COVER LOOSELY WITH FOIL (the Whey Low gets dark faster than regular sugar) and bake for another 15 minutes, or until fairly set. (They will still “give” a little bit…not be firm like a cake.) Run a knife around the edges and allow to cool completely. Remove from pan, if you’ve used paper, and cut into desired size bars. Makes 20-25 bars.

*NOTE: I use Whey Low since it is slower to digest and doesn’t spike my blood sugar. I’ve had gastric bypass and this doesn’t make me ill. REGULAR brown and granulated sugar would work beautifully, also, but would change the stats, slightly.

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In a small saucepan combine the water, quinoa, and salt. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 18-19 minutes. All the water should be absorbed and the “tail” or white ring of each seed should be visible. Fluff with fork. Leave uncovered and set aside to cool slightly.

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In a bowl stir together the almond butter, Agave, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Add oats, quinoa, cranberries, almonds, cashews, and protein powder. Stir together until very well combined. If too dry, add 1-3 tablespoons water – 1 tblsp at a time. (The mixture should be moist and sticky, but not wet.)

In generous 1/8th cup portions, roll into balls, without pressing too hard, and place on waxed paper to set up. Store in an air-tight container.

OR line an 8×8 inch square pan with waxed paper, extending up two sides. Press the mixture into it the prepared pan. Cover and chill in the fridge for an hour. Lift the mixture out of the pan with the waxed paper and cut into 10 bars. Makes 10 pieces. Store in an air-tight container.

I have to say, they aren’t MY fave. I prefer a caramel-chocolate-nutty-coconut thingy instead of the super-sweet-make-your-teeth-ache candies. But a friend requested these and here they are!

Kind of hard to work with, as the ooey-gooey filling (which makes them so yummy to folks!) is soft and hard to mold. A quick trip in the deep freeze helps that, though. All in all they turned out pretty darn close to the real-deal.

Given more trial and error I think I could come up with a cooked sugar-syrup that is thick like corn-syrup, using Whey Low Granular. For these I had on hand maltitol honey flavored syrup – which is a sugar alcohol. This can give some intestinal distress to people…and by ‘some’ I mean LOTS…and to ‘people’ I mean ME. (I’m no longer speaking to Andrea…thank you very much.)

Maybe next year a few weeks ahead of Easter we’ll bring out the recipe again and see what happens! Meanwhile – they are what you’d expect – super sweet, sticky beyond belief, with a crisp chocolate shell – and in the realm of Easter-Candydom that makes them just about perfect.

(I don’t expect everyone to rush out and make these! It was more of a fun why-not, just to say I did!)

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The Powdered Whey Low can be found HERE…and the maltitol syrup HEREand HERE. I made a half batch and the recipe amounts reflect that.

And I couldn’t get them perfectly round like an egg. So they are FLAT…but egg shaped…sorta. And they were frozen so the chocolate set up immediately!

In a medium bowl beat until fluffy, the syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. Slowly beat in the WL powdered and cornstarch until mixture is well combined. Remove 1/3 of the mixture to a small bowl and add the food coloring. Place bowls in the freezer for at least an hour or until hard enough to work with.

Quickly make small yolks and cover them with the white – Place on plastic wrap and mold into egg shapes. IMMEDIATELY place back into the freezer.

In a small bowl SLOWLY melt the chocolate and shortening – stirring every 20 seconds. Be careful – chocolate can scorch in the microwave very quickly. Melt until it’s warm to the touch, but not hot.

Place toothpicks in both ends of each egg (leave the ones you aren’t using in the freezer) and spoon chocolate over the top and bottom. Place on waxed paper and immediately place back in the freezer. Continue until all your eggs are covered. How many eggs you get depends on how big you make them.

And I’m not even going to attempt to give you the stats. If you have to ask…!

These were created to use with Cinnamon Bliss…one of my favorite things on earth. You can find it in this link at Amazon.com and a little goes a long way, so the jug will last awhile. If you can’t find it or don’t want to have that much hanging around, my Gold Caramel Sauce or a good-quality store-bought sugar-free sauce would be wonderful in these.

(Using the commercial stuff, these are fairly full of sugar alcohols – which I’m not fond of. Whey Low doesn’t contain any, so using that and the recipe for Caramel Sauce would be best if you are sensitive to SA’s.)

Preaheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-inch baking pan with vegetable cooking spray and set aside.
Stir together almond flour, flour, oatmeal, Nature Sweet crystals or Splenda, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add melted butter and mix until crumbly. Reserve 1/2 cup for the topping. Pat remainder into the pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until starting to become golden on the edges.

Sprinkle chopped chocolate over caramel layer. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over chocolate. Return to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until caramel is bubbly on edges and top crumbs are slightly golden. Cool in pan and cut into 16 pieces. Makes 16 servings.

In a large bowl beat the butter, cream cheese, WL granular, and WL Gold until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, water, and molasses.

In a small bowl combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, soda, and salt. Add all at once to the butter mixture and beat just until combined. Cover and chill dough for at least 2 hours – I do it overnight so it’s very cold.

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Preheat oven to 325 degrees. If you can, use parchment paper to line a sheet with. Drop dough by a very rounded tablespoon (or 1/3 cup – seriously. I love BIG cookies!) onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with WL granular. Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on the size, or until just set. (I sprinkle with granular again while they are still warm.) If using paper, simply slide off entire thing onto a rack and cool completely. If not, let them sit on the baking sheet for a moment to set and then remove to a wire rack to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a round or square 8 inch pan with vegetable cooking spray and set aside. (If you have it, an 8-inch springform pan is perfect and makes the bars easy to remove.)

In a medium bowl cream the butter with the Whey Low until light. Beat in the vanilla and egg yolk. Gradually stir in the 1/2 cup flour and the 1/2 cup almond flour. Mix in the chopped pecans. Dough will be stiff but moist. Reserve 1/3 cup of this mixture and set aside. With buttered fingers press the remaining dough into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until it is golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

In a small bowl heat raspberry jam in the microwave until soft, but not runny. Stir in almond extract and carefully spread on baked crust to within 1/2 inch of edge.

To reserved crumbs mix in the 1 tablespoon flour, the 1 tablespoon almond flour and the cinnamon. Sprinkle reserved crumb-cinnamon mixture onto the jam. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown and jam is bubbly. Allow to cool before cutting. Makes 16 servings.